Yorba Linda's green thumb threatened by money woes

Kevin Sorrells, left, takes out his Yellow Labrador Maddy as his son Alexander walks their Rottweiler Roxy over the landscape along Foxhollow Drive that is currently being maintained by the city. KEVIN LARA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

YORBA LINDA -- Kevin and Denise Sorrells bought their house on Foxhollow Drive eight years ago knowing the city had an easement on their property to maintain the landscaping and trim trees on a slope that runs along their street.

But a couple of weeks ago, they received a notice from Yorba Linda's engineering department saying it would recommend that the City Council vote to vacate a portion of the city's easement behind a fence that the Sorrells had erected to corral their two dogs.

The notice also said the city likely would review whether to pay for trimming of a small grove of eucalyptus and pine trees on their property that local kids play on and people walk through on their way to San Antonio Park.

This bombshell would mean the Sorrells would have to pay thousands of dollars at least every three years to have those trees trimmed.

The city is working to reduce spending by its Landscape and Lighting Maintenance Assessment District that has paid for landscaping on public and private property for years to keep the city's manicured look.

But now the district is running $1 million annually over budget as water costs go up – while the assessments on homeowners' parcels have not changed since 1997.

Last week, the City Council delayed a decision on whether to maintain the Sorrells' property until it can get the Landscape Maintenance Citizen Advisory Committee it's launching to give input on what areas should stay green.

"We are happy that the council sided with this, but we understand there's a much bigger issue," said Denise Sorrells, 45, a cash manager for an auto-finance company.

Mark Stowell, the city's public works director and city engineer, has tried to identify easements like the Sorrellses' that he believes have less of a public benefit to those who drive, walk and live in the city. If neighborhoods want to maintain 526 acres of slopes, parkways and greenbelts that the city has been maintaining to the tune of $7 million a year, $1 million over budget, then residents are going to have to pay up or the burden is going to be put squarely on individual parcel owners.

A big challenge that will face the city and advisory committee is how to define a public benefit.

The decision on whether to include a piece of land in the assessment district is supposed to be based partly on whether it can be seen by the general public and if it's adjacent to a public road or trail. But as Yorba Linda was subdivided and developed, the city obtained easements on slopes between private properties even though they didn't meet this criteria, Stowell said.

"Over time, they just added up," he said. "Money is tight now, so that's when you start to see issues with this."

The result has been that the assessment district has been run on a deficit for more than 15 years: The city's water costs alone have gone up about 50 percent since 2008, Stowell said. When there is a deficit, the city has been picking up the tab.

The assessment district that covers the cost of landscaping throughout the city is broken up among six landscaping zones that together cover the entire town.

Because homeowners' property values in these zones are boosted by preventing these areas from turning into brown, natural scrub, they are responsible for paying for it, according to an engineer's report written by a city consultant, Willdan Financial Services.

Kevin Sorrells, left, takes out his Yellow Labrador Maddy as his son Alexander walks their Rottweiler Roxy over the landscape along Foxhollow Drive that is currently being maintained by the city. KEVIN LARA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Kevin Sorrells, left, holds his Yellow Labrador Maddy as his son Alexander looks at their Rottweiler Roxy in front of large palm trees that grow alongside their property on Foxhollow Drive. KEVIN LARA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
From left, Denise, Victoria, Alexander and Kevin Sorrells. KEVIN LARA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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